What does it mean to be green? A few days ago, over on Simple Lovely, Jocelyn blogged about her New Year's Resolutions. One of her resolutions is to go 3 months without spending money. Today she elaborated on what drove her to this resolution. I was intrigued, because like so many others, Adam and I have decided to "go without" for the next 6 months. I know.. crazy. We made some guidelines (yes to movies, but no to the new cute sweater). Our decision was partly driven by finances, but moreso about not buying things we just don't NEED. (Sure I'm a slave to Anthro, but do I really NEED the adorable new bowls when I already have 20 perfectly good bowls? I find it ridiculous that I even have 20 when we are a family of 4!)
Her thought process was along the same lines, but also about being more mindful of consumption. She referenced this great article from the Washington Post. I found it spot on. I'm what you would call a lazy environmentalist. I'm a big talker, but not a big doer. Sure, I carry my enviro friendly bags religiously, but I've never thought twice about filling them up multiple times with things I JUST DON'T NEED.
"Keep those plastic bags away from me! I ONLY use my cloth bags."
"I'm so happy Lulu has 20 summer dresses to choose from each day. She really NEEDS them."
It reminded me of a conversation I had with a friend about recycling. I was going on and on about how great we are at recycling. As I was doing this I was pulling out individual bottles of water for a little gathering of 20 or so. He commended me on my recycling, but also pointedly asked why then am I not getting water from the tap, instead of using individual bottles of water? Sure I recycle, but wasn't I missing the point. I was taken aback. How daft could I be? I was a complete contradiction.
I've been thinking about my wasteful ways. Buying another bottle of water instead of filling up a cup I already have. Freshening up my wardrobe when really I just need to be more creative with what I have. I'm turning over a new leaf. Good bye consumerism. Hello to A NEW WOMAN.
12 comments:
I'm with you, but not so much for the environment, mostly because I'm a cheapskate with no income. Then again, Paul is the spender in our relationship, so maybe I'll have him read this post.
Interesting. Hopefully this will help me think about my consumerism more.
Staying in a 270 square foot apartment in Paris, and realizing that our building was full of people who actually lived, and not just vacationed, there was a real eye opener for me about how much stuff we have. We want to cut back, too, but it's so hard! I can't wait to see how this goes. Maybe I'll do the same experiment.
Living in the "Ghetto Pad" for a year taught me a lot. I learned that we can get by in life with a lot less. Good luck...you can do it!
I still have fabric from a year ago that you bought to make Lu a dress. All I need are her measurements unless you want to want to wait until she out grows the other 20 dresses she has.
Good Job! We all need to be better. I married a cheapskate/we don't need that man so I had to learn really fast. Now I am worse than him:)
When you said we were to "Go Without" for 6 months you were talking about shopping for clothes, right?
I'm interested to see where this takes you, Lara.
(and I love it when your husband comments!)
We decided that there will be no clothing purchased for the next 90 days (with the exception of using my gymbucks). I loved that article. Somethings shouldn't be in my house to begin with rather than be recycled...Plus, it will be good for our flagging budget.
I think I'm like you as well, though I do recycle a ton, I don't think I'm doing nearly my part. I would definitely like to be better this year, give back to the earth so to speak, and consume less. Great reminder.
I don't know, I feel like I'm doing my part to "lay up in store" needful things when I pack my house full of junk. When someone needs 18 pairs of pants in size 5T during the Millennium, I can be all like, I got it!
It's like food storage, only, well, not.
Visiting from Joslyn's blog to show a little moral support...
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